Liverpool Plan Bid For £60m Star Who Could Be Their Next Jota

Liverpool remain top of the Premier League table, although their lead doesn’t look as healthy as it did about a week ago.

On Saturday, after falling behind within 11 minutes and then seeing Andy Robertson sent off soon afterwards, the Reds did a remarkably good job of holding Fulham to a 2-2 draw at Anfield, drawing twice in front of the Kop, with Cody Gakpo . and Diogo Jota the scorers.

This is only the fourth time in any competition that Liverpool have failed to win a game since Arne Slot’s arrival on Merseyside, but it means they are now just two points behind an in-form Chelsea side, albeit with a game in hand.

So, as the Reds chase a record 20th in the English top flight in 2025, could the addition of another striker help them over the line?

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Liverpool prepares offer for a new striker

According a report from Caught OffsideLiverpool, as well as Arsenal and Manchester City, are interested in signing Brighton striker Joao Pedro, reportedly willing to bid up to £54 million.

Southampton's Flynn Downes in action with Brighton & Hove Albion's Joao Pedro

The Brazilian began his career at Fluminense, after signing for the Rio giant like a ten year old boybefore leaving for Watford in 2020, marking 24 goals in 109 appearances for the Hornets.

These are far from outstanding statistics, but he certainly did enough to attract the attention of South Coasters during his time in Hertfordshire because, in the summer of 2023, he moved to Brighton. for a club record £30 million.

During his first season with the Gaviotas, Pedro scored an impressive 20 goals in all competitionsincluding six in six in the Europa League, the club’s maiden trip to continental competition, notably this famous last-gasp goal when Olympique Marseille visited Sussex, a goal that secured Brighton’s place in the last 16.

How much can Joao Pedro cost Liverpool?

So far in this campaign, Pedro’s impact has been limited by an ankle injurywatching just 43 minutes of Premier League action between August 31 and November 23, but he still scored four timesgoals that have directly added seven points to the Seagulls’ tally.

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Having started five consecutive games, Fabian Hürzeler clearly values the Brazilian as an important player, hence Brighton supposedly valuing him at around £60 million according to the aforementioned report.

Brighton certainly know how to get a good fee for a high-quality and in-demand player: Moisés Caicedo (115 million pounds), Marc Cucurella (62 million pounds), Ben Blanco (50 million pounds), Alexis Mac Allister (35 million pounds) and Yves Bissouma (25 million pounds) are recent examples from the last three years of the Seagulls’ strong bargaining power, with this entire quintet sold to the so-called “big six” Premier League teams.

So if Pedro leaves the South Coast in 2025, you can bet his last dollar will be for a sky-high fee.

How Joao Pedro would improve Liverpool’s forward line

Arne Slot already has a set of high-quality forwards at his disposal, such as Mohamed Salah, who is in ongoing contract negotiationsas well as Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez, Gakpo, Jota and summer recruit Federico Chiesa, who has had little impact so far due to injury.

Described as a “crazy dribbler” according to data analyst Ben MattinsonHow does Pedro compare to the Reds’ top five attacking options?

Well, playing that hybrid role between centre-forward and number 10, just as Jota did at Anfield, he performs quite well in comparison.

Pedro vs Liverpool forwards (23/24 and 24/25)
statistics	peter	Salah	Whom	diaz	Darwin	Steel
Games	50	67	60	83	81	96
Minutes	3,421	5,010	3,005	5,765	4,629	5,531
Goals	24	41	24	25	26	33
Goals per 90	0.63	0.74	0.72	0.39	0.51	0.54
Assists	6	27	9	9	16	12
Assists per 90	0.16	0.49	0.27	0.14	0.31	0.20
Expected goals	19.6	38.6	11.8	20.8	29.9	18.1
Goals – xG	-0.6	-0.6	+4.2	+0.2	-8.9	+1.9
Shot Creation Actions	127	247	74	269	142	169
Goal-creating actions	19	37	21	24	24	20
All statistics courtesy of FBref.com

To no one’s surprise, Salah ranks top in almost every attacking metric; You didn’t need a gigantic table full of numbers to tell you it’s good, did you?

However, compared to the other strikers, Pedro is on par with most, ranking highest in goals per 90, while boasting a higher xG figure than both Jota and Gakpo.

Slot has been cutting and changing his center forwards this season, especially since Jota suffered a rib injury Chelsea in mid-October, and Díaz often outplayed Núñez, most notably in the 4-0 rout of Bayer Leverkusen, in which the Colombian scored a second-half hat-trick.

Gakpo, meanwhile, has primarily deployed in his preferred position, believing he is “more dangerous” under Slot. claiming that the manager told him that left “is going to be their position”, since Jürgen Klopp deployed it predominantly in a centralized manner.

So, with Jota Having missed 59 games due to injury. since the start of the 22/23 season, and Núñez has not lived up to the very high expectations set by his club record of £85 million price, the Uruguayan scored only 36 goals in 116 outings To date, centre-forward remains a necessary position and Pedro’s numbers suggest he could be a fantastic addition if the Reds are willing to pay a huge fee for his services.